


Unexpected

by secreterces5



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Demon Chara, F/M, Fem Chara, Soulmate-Identifying Marks - Step Counters, Undertale Monsters are on the surface, monsters have been freed, there is only one timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 18:02:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19278559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secreterces5/pseuds/secreterces5
Summary: An idea from @otp-imagination - imagine a soulmate AU in which everyone has a step-counter. For each step they take, the number on the counter goes down, marking the moment they meet their soulmate.@otp-imagination had some ideas with these, but I got most interested in one particular idea: person A stepping up to person B with a weapon in hand, when suddenly, the step counter reaches zero.I added a few things to this AU - monsters are already freed, both humans and monsters can become demons (not that they would want to), and once you find your soulmate, the step-counter changes in purpose - it shows how many steps are there between you and your soulmate. Enjoy!





	Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

> There is never enough Papara in this world.

Papyrus stepped out of the grocery store and took in a breath of fresh evening air. The town was silent, like most nights.

Since the monster kind had been freed, the number on his wrist has been nearing zero and he was extremely excited to finally meet his destined soulmate. His brother had already met his, a very nice lady with similarly annoying jokes but also with kind nature and patience to endure all of Sans' shenanigans.

He wondered what his soulmate would be like. Would it be a skeleton like him? Or a human, since his step count lasted until their freedom?

"Ha! Take that, you freak!" a rough voice disturbed his thoughts. Repetitive hits and soft cries then reached him. It sounded like a brawl. And Papyrus decided to investigate. His soulmate can wait a day or two more.

When turning around the corner, he noticed a trio of adolescent humans, laughing at a distinctively smaller human laying in between them. Apart from occasionally kicking them, the humans just laughed at their smaller companion, who seemed determined not to move, curled up in a ball and only letting out quiet gasps for air with each hit.

The sight made him confused. Why would humans do that to other humans? Why would anyone do that? He decided to interrupt. He hated to see that human in pain. Or... What he thought was a human, but upon closer inspection, he noticed strange, inky black liquid seeping from their eyes and mouth and scratches.

A demon. One of the few that roam this world. Who feed on souls of the innocent.

In his eyes this hardly mattered, but it seemed to motivate the three brutes enough. It made him feel rather disappointed. Most humans made themselves seem rather welcoming, so why didn’t these?

"Hey!" he said once he reached them, stepping between them and the human on the ground. "You have no right to hurt others like this!"

The trio looked up at him. Despite his significant height, they didn't seem to be very frightened.

"Our rights are none of your bussiness, monster!"

"Yeah! Get away from the demon before we fuck up both of you!"

Papyrus frowned and prepared to summon a bone attack if needed, which made orange colour glow in his eyesockets. "Leave her be. Now."

Upon noticing the orange magic, the three guys changed their opinion rather quickly and disappeared in a rushed manner.

The girl picked herself up and growled, scaring him a bit. "I'm going to murder those fuckers."

"H-hey, no need to be angry! They're gone already!"

Chara snapped her head around. When she finally realized that he is still there, anger took control of her mind. Who is this monster to intervene with a demon’s business? The thoughts in her mind were quickly silenced by her hunger for a soul. She hadn't fed in so long... She didn’t want to eat, she wanted to roll over and die, but her instincts screamed at her to eat, and he was alone. Too bad for him. She picked the knife of the ground and angrily paced towards the skeleton: "Do NOT test me, skeleton! I know you did that only to mock me! You think I'm weak, don't you, you bastard?! Don't you?!"

Papyrus took a step back. This demeanor from the girl surprised him, didn't he just save her? Trying not to start a fight, he said: "N-no, I would never do that! I was just trying to help, I swear!"

"Yeah?! Well guess what, you superhero, I'm gonna dust you anyways, because I'm too fucking hungry to care!" and she raised the blade.

Papyrus summoned an orange shield around himself, covering his face with his hands in panic.

But all of a sudden, everything, including his attacker, felt silent. And in that silence, a soft ring was heard.

He slowly lowered his hands to see the girl with eyes wide open and staring at the back of her right hand. Raising an eyebrow, he instinctively took a step forward to ask what's wrong, when he heard the ringing one more time and his right hand, or rather the black zero drawn on the back of his bony hand, glew brightly. He took all the steps. He doesn't have to go anywhere else, he has found his soulmate.

Papyrus looked up to meet a pair of bloodily red irises.

Then, Chara stumbled back. "N-no, nonono, this isn't right!" She caught her hand with her other hand as if trying to cover the zero. "Shit! It shouldn't have worked out! I was not supposed to move! I- I..." Panic overwhelmed her. She was not supposed to take those steps. She stopped walking around when her hand reached the number five. She didn't want to meet her soulmate. Noone deserved her. She wanted to die before they get a chance to meet her, that way she will not have to break their heart. But now, now she had met him. And she took those final steps intending to hurt him. In her eyes it just proved the fact that she should've just stabbed herself while she had the chance.

"A-are you okay?" Papyrus asked gently, not meaning to freak her out more. "It's... quite a surprise."

"Go away!" she yelled. "Just... Forget about this! Find someone else! Pretend it's them! Everyone... Everyone's better..." She dropped the knife, turned on her heel and bolted out of the dead end street.

"Wait!" Papyrus yelled and ran after her, forgetting all about the fruit he had dropped onto the pavement.

Chara felt tears forming in her eyes. She didn't want this to happen. If she had died, Fate would've found him another possible soulmate. His step count-down would start all over. But now that they have met, she knew it would break the poor skeleton's heart. She was planning on dying and she wasn't taking anyone else down with her. If she can lose him in the streets between houses, she can get away and jump off of a cliff or something without him ever knowing. She will be just a mysterious almost-mate, that he'll never again have to see.

For a second, she closed her eyes and wiped her tears away, but before she could get a look at where she's going, she slammed into someone's open arms.

"Nyeheheh, got'cha!" Papyrus smiled victoriously, but couldn't properly enjoy his catch of the day, because it kept trying to escape. Clawing at your arms doesn't do much if you don't have skin, but it still worried him. "What's so wrong? Did you expect a human?"

"Did YOU expect a fucking demon?!" she snapped, still trying to wriggle her way out of his grasp.

"I didn't really expect anything. But I didn't think my soulmate would run away from me."

She froze for a second. The sadness in his words was heart-wrenching. How does someone get attached so easily? "I'm noone's soulmate!" she yelled.

"But... The step count-down-"

"It's wrong!" she shrieked and looked into his eyesockets. "Oh it's so wrong! I can't be your soulmate! You don't deserve me!"

He looked more and more confused with every word she spoke. "Well, sure, maybe I'm not one of the best, but-"

"Damn it, it's not your fault!" she pushed against his chest, weakly attempting to get away from him. "I just... Shouldn't... Be here," she groaned between the attempts. She was stopped by the skeletal arms that picked her up without any trouble. She didn't really weigh much, but it was still impressive.

Still, she tried not to meet his eyesockets with her eyes again. She also ceased her attempts at escaping, being too exhausted.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't," Papyrus said. "You should be under a roof and getting some sleep, because those black circles under your eyes definitely shouldn't be that big."

She groaned: "Here we go, you're the innocent and sweet type! Great! The stupidest ones! What will it take for you to understand that I, as a demon, bring misfortune and darkness, and as my soulmate you are doomed to suffer as I take souls of innocent-"

"You are going to get some sleep first," he interrupted her and took off in direction of his home. "Trust me, we can deal with eternal doom once you drop that grumpy attitude."

It took her aback. No rejection, no anger, nothing in that voice even slightly negative. It was like if just the lack of negativity silenced down her own negativity. And her mind, as she seemed to get slightly dizzy. It could've also been the soft swaying of the arms that held her against the skeleton like a child. Given no other choice, she allowed herself to relax a bit, and then she hid her head under the skeleton's chin. She can't kill herself now. The bond between their souls had already formed and it would hurt her as much as it would hurt him. But she can't possibly stay with him, sooner or later she will have to kill someone to survive. She can not put anyone through-

"You know, I caught you, but I believe I haven't caught your name yet," he spoke up to break the silence of darkening night.

She could feel the jaw above her head moving when he spoke. She didn't move her head though. "Well... My name's Chara," she murmured.

"Chara. That's a pretty name. I'm Papyrus the skeleton."

She snorted. "You don't say. I wouldn't have guessed that you are a skeleton. I thought I have stumbled upon the strongest wimp in the existence." Now she moved, carefully so she wouldn't hit his chin with the back of her head. Stealing a glance of his smile, she added: "Nice to meet you, Papyrus, I guess?"

Papyrus studied her features. She didn't even closely resemble what he thought a demon would look like. She reminded him of Frisk, his and his brother's human friend. She had similar hairstyle, and pale skin, as if she had been ill recently. She was very slim, and in his arms felt as light as a feather. She had a green sweater with a yellow stripe crossing it.

The vibrantly red eyes were hypnotizing. Right then and there, he knew that Fate definitely wasn't wrong.

She was brave but fragile inside. She was beautiful. Scarred by some hard times, definitely, but beautiful nevertheless. "Yeah. Nice to meet you too, Chara."

**Author's Note:**

> Although this is the original idea, I have some unfinished drafts and scenes I’d love to show you guys, so if you liked this, tell me so I know I should write more!


End file.
